America’s Next 250 Years Depend on Winning the AI Race

This past Fourth of July, Americans marked 250 years of independence, and the celebration was more than fireworks and parades. It was a tribute to the ingenuity, sacrifice, and determination that transformed a fledgling republic into the world's leading economic and military power.

That leadership was never guaranteed. It was earned through generations of innovation, from the assembly line to the moon landing to the microchip. Today, the defining technology of the next century is artificial intelligence, and the tiny semiconductors that power it have become as strategically important as steel, oil, and nuclear technology were in generations past.

Advanced AI chips are not ordinary consumer products. They are the engines behind the world's most sophisticated artificial intelligence systems. The same chips that train breakthrough medical models or improve manufacturing efficiency can also enable autonomous weapons, military intelligence analysis, cyber warfare, surveillance systems, and advanced command-and-control capabilities.

In other words, these are dual-use technologies with profound military implications.

China has made no secret of its ambitions to become the global leader in artificial intelligence. The CCP has enacted a Military-Civil Fusion strategy, which eliminates barriers between the country's civilian and defense sectors. Through this strategy, technological breakthroughs developed commercially are routinely leveraged to strengthen the People's Liberation Army. Every breakthrough in AI computing has the potential to narrow America's strategic advantage.

Congress should pass legislation that strengthens restrictions on exporting America's most advanced, weaponizable AI chips to foreign adversaries, particularly the People's Republic of China. Existing export controls have slowed China's access to cutting-edge computing power, but loopholes remain. Companies continue searching for workarounds, modified products, and alternative pathways that undermine the spirit of those restrictions.

America should not subsidize its own competition by providing the tools needed to accelerate military capabilities that could someday be turned against American service members or our allies.

Some argue that limiting exports costs American companies valuable revenue. There is truth to that concern. The semiconductor industry benefits from global markets, and maintaining technological leadership requires substantial investment.

But national security has always required balancing commercial interests against strategic realities.

America would never sell stealth fighter technology, advanced missile guidance systems, or nuclear enrichment equipment simply because there was demand overseas. AI chips capable of training advanced models deserve similar consideration. Their strategic value increasingly rivals that of traditional defense technologies.

This is not about protectionism for its own sake. It is about recognizing that some technologies are simply too important to be treated like ordinary exports. Throughout our history, America has protected the innovations that give our military and economy a strategic advantage. Advanced AI chips belong in that category.

The Fourth of July we just celebrated is a reminder that independence is not merely declared, it is defended. The Founders understood that economic strength and national security go hand in hand. A nation that allows its most important technologies to strengthen a strategic rival risks sacrificing both its prosperity and its security. That lesson is just as relevant in the age of artificial intelligence.

Fortunately, Congress does not have to start from scratch. Legislation such as the SAFE Chips Act and the AI OVERWATCH Act offers a path forward by strengthening oversight of advanced AI chip exports and helping ensure that America's most powerful computing technology does not end up bolstering the military capabilities of foreign adversaries. These proposals reflect a simple principle: technologies that could reshape the global balance of power deserve safeguards that match their strategic importance.

Now, looking back on America's 250th birthday, we should take pride in the fact that the world's most advanced AI chips are designed by American companies, built on decades of American research, and powered by the ingenuity of American workers.

The competition between the United States and China will not be decided only by ships, tanks, or fighter jets. It will also be shaped by computing power, semiconductor innovation, and artificial intelligence. The nation that leads in those technologies will have a decisive advantage in both economic growth and national defense.

Now that Independence Day has come and gone, Congress should remember that preserving American leadership requires more than celebrating our past, it requires making wise decisions about our future. As House Majority Leader, Steve Scalise controls what legislation reaches the House floor, and he has a direct opportunity to show that leadership by scheduling a vote on the SAFE Chips Act and the AI OVERWATCH Act. Louisiana sent Leader Scalise to Washington to make exactly these kinds of consequential calls. This is one of them.

Having just marked 250 years of American independence, we should ensure that we invest in the next 250 years of American security, prosperity, and leadership. Let's take another step in American leadership by passing these bills.